


This One Day

by Danilla



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 07:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18133010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danilla/pseuds/Danilla
Summary: When Bruce woke up that morning, he found Jeremiah Valeska lying on his chest, Jerome Valeska on the top of the kitchen counter and Alfred acting completely normal about it.





	This One Day

Bruce woke up for the first time in many years by his own, without having a bright flash of sunlight being shot at him by Alfred. It was rare, considering he had always a lot in his agenda, so maybe, maybe, something was canceled today and there was this beautiful miracle where Alfred would give him some more hours. 

The second thing Bruce noticed was that he was shirtless and there was someone heavily sleeping on his chest and, okay, maybe there was a party Bruce Wayne had to attend and he brought some woman over. Bruce touched the back of the person, still not opening his eyes, and could vaguely realize it was a man. He didn't really remember having a party the day before, he could swear it was a patrol night, but he supposed he was just tired. 

When he opened his eyes for the first time that morning, he found a bunch of messy dark green hair lying in his chest. He felt his heart starting to speed up, because after all these years he still could remember exactly how his hair looked like, even though now Jeremiah Valeska barely had any hair or had a recognizable face. Bruce tried to reason, telling himself he probably just picked this guy because he reminded him of his old friend, but then, the guy started to wake up. 

He wasn’t really proud of how he panicked and gasped a little when the guy looked at his direction with a very sleepy smile and a very pale face. It was him. The old Jeremiah Valeska was right in front of him, smiling as if it was nothing, wearing just a baggy purple sweater and underwear. Bruce mentally corrected himself, he wasn’t his old friend, he was already affected with his brother’s gas.

The black haired man pushed him back and got up of the bed, incredulous look in his eye.

“Bruce? What is it?” Jeremiah asked with worry in his eyes, suddenly getting up as well and getting closer to him.

“Jeremiah?” He whispered, more lost than ever. If Jeremiah was here, that meant Hugo Strange had something to do with this. Maybe The Joker was still around? What if Strange cloned him? Or just cured him? And what was this one doing in bed with him? Maybe he was sent to kill him in his sleep, but wouldn’t he have done this already?

“Oh, Bruce, you look so lost. What happened?” The green haired man tried to step closer, but the other gave a step back.

“Why are you here!?” Bruce asked a little too deep and tried to clean his voice. He wasn’t Batman right now. Jeremiah laughed and he thought he would never hear it again, and then gave him one of those bright and playful smiles he used to give him all the time.

“Your Batsy is showing, Bruce.”

Bruce refused to freak out. He couldn’t be sure, could he? Maybe he was just saying random things and waiting to get his identity. He tried to make his best Bruce Wayne smile.

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Jeremiah had this most incredulous smile in his face now, like he didn’t believe at all in what just came out of Bruce’s mouth, but he didn’t press it, just rolled his eyes to far from Bruce.

The green haired man made his way to the bathroom, and what scared Bruce the most was the familiarity he seemed to move on his bedroom. 

For the first time, Bruce started worrying about Alfred and wanted to hit himself, how could he just not check on Alfred right away?

He ran downstairs as fast and silent as he could, looking around hurriedly until he could smell the usual breakfast scent he smelt every day. He forced himself to calm down a little and follow to the kitchen. He could be overacting and Alfred didn’t know anything about Jeremiah upstairs, because the thing he first noticed when he arrived in the kitchen was how Alfred seemed as his every day self, cooking with his back turned to the door.

That sense of tranquility died the exact moment when he heard another voice he didn’t hear for a long time, a voice that died years ago.

“G’ morning, sunshine!” A redhead man with several scars greeted him from the top of the counter, big smile spreading across his face.

For about the third time that day, Bruce felt like screaming.

“Morning, Master B.” Alfred greeted him as usual without turning around. Fourth time.

Was Alfred being threatened..? But he couldn't really see any weapons in the redhead's hands, he was just sitting on the counter, mostly watching Alfred cook. Maybe Alfred was hypnotized? But the Mad Hatter hasn't been seen in Gotham for years.

"Alfred?" Bruce called a little cautious and watched the older man turn down the oven and turn to face him. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy." Well, the man seemed fine so far.

Jerome Valeska, the man he knew died several years ago, was, just like that Jeremiah, dressed more comfortable than he had any right to, with a bright yellow sweatpants and white simple shirt. And Jerome Valeska, the man who tried to kill him a good amount of times in the past, was walking in his direction laughing brightly.

"Aw, I'm hurt! How about 'How are you, love of my life?'?" Jerome wrapped his arms around his neck and pressed their lips together briefly before Bruce could yank back with a scowl in his face.

Jerome started laughing quietly, different from all those times he remembers when they were young. It wasn't a desperate laugh, Bruce hated himself for describing it as soft.

"Here's the Bat we all love."

Bruce turned to see Alfred's reaction a little too fast, just to find the man finishing the breakfast preparations, preparing instead of one, three plates. Alfred didn't seem to mind he knew about his secret identify, and it all just seemed off.

"So babe, why are you so moody today?" Jerome was behind him, hugging his waist.

"Maybe it's because he has to deal with you that early." Jeremiah's calm as ever voice said and both Bruce and Jerome turned their faces to look at him while he entered the kitchen. Jeremiah was wearing a dark purple suit now, with his green hair now brushed back, he had make up on with a dark red lipstick.

Alfred seemed unaffected, thought. If something, a little tired.

"Oh, brother, you're just jealous." Jerome answered from behind him, scarred chin on his shoulder, and Bruce could practically hear the grin in his voice.

Bruce felt the hands on him get tighter and saw Jeremiah's eyes follow his brother's hands to his waist. The green haired man clenched his teeth at the view. Maybe Bruce should have done something to stop Jerome, but he was too invested in Jeremiah's answers, and it was just when he felt Jerome's lips giving gentle kisses on his neck that he noticed he had made the wrong call.

It was all too fast and before he could notice, the ginger was no longer behind him and his brother was chasing him around the kitchen. Jeremiah had this dangerous look in his eyes while Jerome just looked playful, running around and mocking his brother.

Bruce though it could be the weirdest thing to see two grown men in this childish chase, but the weirdest thing still was why were they around being so intimate with him or why Alfred was acting like it was an every day thing.

"Master Bruce, I would advise you to eat your breakfast now or you will be late," Alfred said normally and turned to both men who were fighting a little too lightly to be serious on the ground, "Same goes for you two." And then, Alfred left.

Bruce was, once again, lost. He sat as quietly as possible in one of the chairs and watched miraculously the twins step apart, getting up as if nothing had happened at all.

Jerome made sure he sat in the chair by his side, dragging it a little nearer to him, throwing his legs over Bruce's and starting to eat. Maybe Bruce should have just followed Alfred and left them there.

Jeremiah seemed unaffected by his brother's actions, but kept a serious face. He climbed and sat in the table, by the side of Bruce's plate, and crossed his legs. He picked his fork and lifted it with some eggs in it, holding it close to Bruce's mouth, finally cracking a smile.

"Open up, Bruce!" But yeah, Bruce kinda refused it and shook his head.

"Do anyone care to explain what is going on in here, please?" Charming Bruce Wayne smile appearing in his face.

The redhaired man seemed to find it funny, because he gave a small laugh, when the green haired one just made a face that could be described as disgusted.

"Ya Bruce Wayning right now? Buttercup, don't be boring!" Jerome rolled his eyes.

"Quiet, please." Jeremiah hissed. "Bruce, are you feeling good-y?" He ran a hand on his cheek but Bruce was quick to hold it.

"I-"

"Look, I know you're not okay today, but I have to show Mister Fox our project. I'm sure Jerome would love to keep you company." Jeremiah told him, and the last part seemed to be painful to say. He heard Jerome giggle.

And Bruce had the opportunity to get shocked again. What did it mean their project? Did they work together as they once did? He took his time to analyze the previous sentence, Jeremiah couldn't possibly be a insane criminal anymore, Bruce hoped.

The hand he had previously held away from his face insistingly came back, resting in his cheek again as Jeremiah leaned down to press a kiss in Bruce's lips. Bruce told himself he didn't stop it because he didn't see that coming, even though their kiss lasted for quite a while. 

Jeremiah got up of the table and disappeared out of the kitchen.

"You got lipstick..." Jerome gestured around his own mouth.

Bruce once again caught himself being weirdly soft taking Jerome's legs out of his gently. He got up and hurried to get dressed, he wasn't going to let Jeremiah alone in the Wayne Enterprises, what if he tried to explode everyone in there.

It didn't take long for Bruce to prepare himself, dressing as his usual black suit. Jerome apparently was also going to go, because he had a dark blue plaid suit without the jacket in him.

He noticed a little unamused he wouldn't be driving his own car, since Jerome seemed pretty familiarized with driving it. Bruce chose the front seat and Jeremiah ended in the back, and during the whole unsafe trip, he felt piercing eyes following his every moves. Every time he looked back, he would see a warm smile and those same affectionate eyes he remembers from years ago looking at him as if he was the most valuable thing on the entire world.

As it turns out, Bruce's worry for their behavior wasn't unnecessary. Jerome seemed bored to death by the first five minutes of the meeting, opting for drawing and writing random things in any piece of paper he could find. Jeremiah looked at everyone as if they all had grow second heads, and the people just looked used to all this. 

When it was time to present their project, the one Bruce knew nothing about, Jeremiah explained everything to Lucius and the others around, sometimes he would make eye contact and wink or smile. He was kinda surprised how good it was, and even more surprised when Jeremiah gave him and painfully gave Jerome some credit for the project.

When it was over, Bruce asked the brothers for a minute and guided Lucius to his office. As he was walking away he could hear Jerome's laugh and a little "You're jealous of an old man".

"Something is troubling you, Bruce." Lucius pointed out.

"Yes." Bruce confirmed anyway and tried to think the best form to approach the question "I need you to increase my ego. Tell me a little about Bruce Wayne."

At the same time the other man looked confused, he didn't hesitate a blink before start talking.

"Bruce Wayne? Do you mean the most important man in Gotham? Owner of a great part of the city? Billionaire and egocentric man who also donates a lot of money to charity because of his own image? Who is so full of himself that took in two of the most dangerous and insane criminals of Gotham into his home, just to brag about it? Is it that Bruce Wayne?" Lucius asked sarcastically, but still serious.

"How long has it been?" Bruce choose to drop the act.

"The playboy billionaire thing? You were almost twenty."

"No, I mean, the bringing criminals thing."

"It was about five years ago."

And, okay, Bruce did have a problem, because he could remember very clearly that every single day of his life in the last five years resumed in worrying about what The Joker was plotting or actually doing. Even before these five years. 

He knew Jerome had chosen to die awfully in a young age. He knew Jeremiah went crazy, maybe crazier than his brother, destroyed the city and in the process ended up twisting himself forever.

"Some would say Bruce Wayne is in love with both the twins." Lucius kept talking. "And some say they love him even more."

"Do they still," Bruce cleared his throat "Kill people?"

"There hasn't been any evidence of a murder that led to them in any way." Lucius said and maybe Bruce's worry was showing, because he completed with "But no, I believe they don't kill people anymore.".

Lucius excused himself to another meeting and Bruce stayed for a while to both keep himself together and to fill in some paperwork.

When Bruce finally left, he was greeted with a image he couldn't even imagine that could happen. Jeremiah was sitting on a waiting sofa, while Jerome was lying on it, head on his twin's lap while he played with his hair and scars. If Bruce's heart skipped a beat he wouldn't admit it.

The trip back was pretty much the same thing and they were back in the manor before he knew it.

Even though they all acted naturally, Bruce couldn't avoid thinking it was terribly odd. Both the twins announced their presence to Alfred, Jerome screaming loudly "We're home, old man!" and Jeremiah just saying his name briefly and nodding. Once again, Alfred looked unfazed, and replied with "So I've noticed." and a nod, respectively.

"Master Bruce, Mister Jeremiah, you might want to prepare yourselves for tonight's charity party." Alfred said turning to the black haired man.

"Isn't Jerome coming?" Bruce blurted out without thinking.

And, he discovered, unthoughtful comments can cause a small wave of drama.

Almost immediately Jerome's voice doing some endless "aww" sound filled the air and Bruce could see Alfred raising one of his eyebrows in a questioningly way. Jeremiah, as it looked like, wanted to bore some wholes in his brother's skull with his eyes.

"Catch me!" Jerome said before jumping into him.

The redhead wrapped his legs around his waist and hands around his neck. Bruce instinctively grabbed his thighs, lifting him up. At that Alfred just turned his back and disappeared into the house.

"I know, baby doll, it's gonna be a hard time without me," he giggled gluing forehead against forehead "But you gotta pretend you like Jeremiah too." He finished sarcastically.

Bruce once again acted impulsively and smiled at that. He never really spent a lot of time with Jerome before his death, and all the times they interacted it was about the insane kid trying to kill the rich kid. Jerome might have always been fun, but Bruce didn't have the circumstances to know that.

While Jerome seemed wildly pleased with himself for making Bruce smile, Jeremiah didn't look happy at all.

"Okay, that's enough. Bruce, we're going to be late." Jeremiah interrupted also taking off Jerome's legs out his waist.

Jerome made sure of giving him a kiss on the lips that unlike the first one he received of the redhead, he didn't pull away. 

It was a proper kiss this time, and they just separated when Jerome's hair was pulled back by his brother. Against his sanity, he noticed how different the brother's lips were: Jeremiah was all about soft lips and Bruce could taste the lipstick; Jerome, on the other hand, had dry and bruised lips and Bruce could feel the smile on it. He could also notice that while Jeremiah was firm and possessive, Jerome was gentle and slow.

They ate something before they could go dress themselves, and when they were done, Bruce realized he didn't remember how much Jeremiah liked to innovate in his looks. He was now in a sparkly purple suit, social heeled shoes, gel hair with it parted to the side, too much black make up around his eyes and bright red lipstick. Bruce just looked like his usual self and he wouldn't know how to beat Jeremiah's style anyway.

Before they left, Jerome grabbed his hand and pulled him to one of the many bathrooms of the manor, closing the door behind them. He kept both of his hands on his, tracing circles in them. 

"Are you okay?" It was a simple question, full of worry and seriousness.

It was the first time he saw Jerome so serious and expectant, and for some reason, he felt his chest get tighter. Bruce smiled the most assuring smile he had and kissed the redhead's forehead, whispering a "I'm fine, don't worry." and leaving the bathroom.

Jeremiah was right outside waiting for them to go, and he finally got to drive the car. Once again he felt loving eyes towards him.

"You don't need to keep watching me." Bruce said weakly.

"I like to." Soft answer in return.

When they arrived in one of those big events he had to attend at least once a week, he realized that he predicted two things correctly: the first one was that Jeremiah was indeed the prettiest person in the room; the second was that unlike the party he had last week (when everything was normal and things actually made a little of sense) there was no women flirting with him. It was absolutely for the best, because he was under the impression Jeremiah could physically fight anyone if they came too close to Bruce.

Bruce talked to a lot of people, as usual, and he noticed it was so much easier to keep a façade when he had backup right by his side. Surely, it wasn't the first time he had a plus one with him, but they rarely did much besides smiling prettily. Jeremiah did smile prettily, but he was bullshiting a lot more than him, shaking hands and talking projects. Bruce sometimes felt like he was Jeremiah's plus one, and maybe he was, sipping his champagne, smiling prettily and looking at Jeremiah like he was his world.

At some point of that evening, when it was starting to get dark, the green haired man pulled him into the garden, just for the sake of fresh air.

"Bruce, you're acting weird today." Jeremiah stated, pushed and lifted him to sit on a table there was nearby.

Bruce would usually feel like a puppet in this situation, he's sure of that, but there was something incredibly hypnotic on those eyes. He didn't know if the champagne had some sort of effect mixing to all the feelings he was having that day, but once again he was eighteen, they were friends, he was vulnerable and he wanted to keep looking at his eyes forever.

Jeremiah parted his legs and stood between them, hands on Bruce's waist. Bruce held his shoulders tight, as if to stabilize himself. It was several seconds later of intense eye contact that Bruce first spoke.

"I saw you fall into the ace chemicals." 

"When- What did you see, Bruce?" Jeremiah's face looked confused, but he questioned carefully.

"When we were younger. You destroyed the city. And then tried to recreate my parents death. But I saw you falling in that ace tank." Bruce knew he was probably rambling, but he didn't know how to be coherent. "You became another person." He ran his hand in the other man's face. "The Joker, Gotham's worst nightmare."

Jeremiah looked taken aback to all that, but calmly replied "Bruce, I did destroy Gotham years ago. And unsuccessfully tried to recreate your parents murder scene, however, Jerome showed up to ruin everything by kidnapping you, don't you remember? Both my brother and I used this stupid name, The Joker, right in the beginning of Batman."

Each word that came out of Jeremiah's mouth was heavy, as if reminding him the quantity of people they had both killed and tormented.

"Why did you stop?" 

"Oh, Bruce..." Jeremiah held him tighter. "You and Jerome got closer. You were suddenly all handsy on rooftops. And you were mine, Bruce!" Jealously dripping in every word. "When he got back to Arkham, he didn't try to escape and you paid visits to him, Bruce Wayne as much as Batsy."

Bruce couldn't decide what he thought about the story. He didn't think it was impossible for him to make out with a criminal on rooftops, since him and Selina lost count of the many times it happened in the past.

"I decided I should be the one to receive your attention so I kissed you without your consent. When you pushed me away I didn't know what to do, so I dropped to my knees and started begging you to stay with me." He cracked a smile. "Not my proudest moment, of course."

"I didn't... stay?"

"You left me crying on the floor. I made a deal with you later, where I would go to Arkham and you agreed visiting me as much as you visited Jerome if I behaved. Eventually you felt comfortable enough to invite us to live with you. You refused to kiss me untill then. You don't remember any of this?"

And that pained Bruce even though it probably shouldn't. He had a life with them, a life he didn't remember anything about. It felt unfair to them, not being the same person they fell for or got better for.

"I am so sorry." Bruce said and hid his face on Jeremiah's neck, whispering "I missed you so much."

"Hush, Bruce. I'm here."

They got back home right after that and among the surprises of that day, the green haired man knew how to drive.

As soon as they entered home, they could hear Jerome’s loud laugh coming from another room. Bruce’s whole body tensed, and he couldn’t exactly explain why. He hurried to follow the noise, but then he noticed Jeremiah’s calm face staring at him, slightly worried. He stopped himself, and mirrored Jeremiah, walking calmly to the room.

Nothing in the world could have prepared him for seeing Alfred sitting on a sofa grinning while playing Mario Kart.

Both Alfred and Jerome seemed too invested in the game to notice them at first, and Jerome was loud enough so they couldn’t hear them arriving either. Jeremiah had this apathetic look on his face, but Bruce figured he didn’t really mean it. Bruce tried to focus on their game, but didn’t have enough power to look away from Jerome in that moment.

He was sitting on the floor, crossed legs, holding his joystick between his legs and making all of the cutest faces. His hair was still wet and brushed back and he was wearing white pants and red sweater. The colors brought Bruce some memories of their fight in the amusement park, but he tried to shake those thoughts away.

“No! You cheated, butler!” Jerome screamed laughing, resting his head in Alfred’s knee.

“Don’t be a sore loser, mate.” Alfred replied getting up. “Master B! I didn’t expect you two home so early.”

Bruce swears he saw sparks on Jerome’s eye when he saw him.

“Hey, handsome!" The ginger got closer and sealed their lips for a split second kiss. "Had fun? Kissed some pretty girl?"

"He kissed me." Jeremiah said, but they didn't.

"Of course he did, champ." His brother replied and turned his attention back to Bruce. "Do you want some help in today's patrol, tough guy? You seem off." 

And at that, he had the attention of all the three men in the room.

"I... Thought I could skip the patrol today." Bruce said and received three positive reactions in return.

"Well, it's a bloody miracle." Alfred said and smiled to him.

Bruce tried not to think in his selfish reasons to not do something as important as be the Batman that day. He tried not to think that he wanted to enjoy a little more of all that because maybe he would have to go back to his life. He thought Jeremiah saw this, because he squeezed his shoulders reassuringly.

Bruce prepared himself to sleep as always did after those long nights on the street. Jeremiah approached him with washed up face and more comfortable clothes. He was holding tons of what looked like plants for his new project with him. Bruce thought he looked beautiful like this as well, but he decided to keep that to himself.

"Good night, Bruce." Jeremiah said and kissed his lips before he could disappear in one of the offices there were in the house. Probably his office.

Before heading to bed, Bruce decided to check if Alfred wanted some company, but instead he found Jerome in the kitchen doing the dishes. He pushed away intrusive thoughts about how he snapped for the first time while doing the dishes.

He also tried to push away the thought that he looked beautifully pensive while doing so.

"Do you want some help?" Bruce offered getting closer.

"Don't mind, just finishing." 

He started drying the dishes anyway, and he didn't know how much he liked domestic activities until now.

"You do that often?"

"Ya know I don't. Just when I lose a bet to that old man." Jerome smiled looking at Bruce.

They finished it soon, with both of them laughing of a joke Jerome told, one of the most lame jokes he's ever heard, but Bruce supposed it was funny because of that.

Bruce didn't question when Jerome pulled him to his bedroom, the same one he woke up this morning with Jeremiah. Bruce didn't question when Jerome made him sit on the bed and sat on his lap, staring at him with playful eyes. Bruce didn't question the sloppy, open mouthed kisses, sucking and small bites Jerome gave his neck. Or the noises that came out of his own throat when the ginger did so.

It all seemed too natural, and that was the most scaring part of it all. His body felt used to the touch of this man, even though the only touches Jerome ever gave him was when he was trying to kill him as a teen. 

Bruce wonders how many more times they fought before they could become lovers.

The thought itself made Bruce gasp and squeeze Jerome's thighs.

"Bruce..." The redhead purred in his ear and that was the first time Bruce heard Jerome call his name in that day.

But that wasn't fair, was it? He didn't share all of his memories, he didn't even know how they got closer.

"Wait, Jerome, I need..."

"Yes?" He said and kissed his lips.

Bruce held his face gently and pulled away.

"I need to tell you something." Bruce whispered.

He realized he had only half of Jerome's attention at that moment, because he was still looking at Bruce with hunger. Bruce calmly took the other man out of his lap, sitting him by his side.

"I can't remember anything from our life together." Bruce blurted out hurriedly and he finally had Jerome's fully attention.

"Did ya hit ya head or something?" The ginger asked with worried tone, but he had a nervous smile.

"No. Not that I remember." He answered lamely, "It's not just that. I remember seeing your dead body when we were young and-"

"Well, I did die once." Jerome commented jokingly.

"It wasn't this time. I saw your dead body right before you poisoned Jeremiah with the laughing gas. I heard you... decided to die, to fall from the building."

Jerome didn't look like he was hearing about a possible death of his, he looked like he was trying to hold back a smile.

"Remember that day, but there was no way I wouldn't stick around to see baby bro blow up things, c'mon sweet cheeks."

Bruce bit his lips and tried to think how to carry on the conversation.

"So, how was it without me?" Jerome asked before he could say something, "Any of brother's plans worked at all?" He joked again.

"No... mostly didn't. He fell into a tank full of chemicals not long after, and lost all his memories. He wasn't himself anymore, just The Joker."

"Ouch, must've been painful. The name sounds familiar though. Ya know, we did use that name."

"I talked to Jeremiah today at the party. He told me some things. He told me you stopped because... Because we got closer. He didn't get into too much details."

"Yes! We always had the best fights, and we happened to be good in other stuff as well. You don't even remember things that happened last week, doll face?" He seemed sad for a brief moment, before changing it to his serious expression.

It pained him, and Bruce felt like apologizing over and over and over again because he wasn't the man they knew even if deep down, he wanted to be. He enjoyed his day a lot more than he usually did, maybe even Alfred did so.

Bruce tried to find explanation to all that and he came to conclusion that it couldn't be a dream, because even in his most livid illusions he wouldn't feel so alive as now. The world was pretty much still the same, except for this little piece of his life. He wasn't being selfish wanting it to last, he just wanted to have the chance to know them.

"I don't. I'm sorry, Jerome."

And at that he could notice Jerome seemed far more upset than his brother at the news because he lied down with an arm over his eyes.

"It's not fair. You were the first person to love me, and now you don't love me anymore..." Jerome murmured to himself and Bruce didn't really know what to say in return, but suddenly the redhead had his arms out of his eyes and was staring at him "Y'know, that's actually a really good joke." And he started laughing loudly.

Bruce didn't see the amusement on the situation and wondered if he could do something to help the man who was hysterically laughing in front of him.

Jerome just stopped when he was totally out of breath and eyes wet from tears Bruce didn't know if it was from the laughing or actually crying. He patted by his side and murmured a little "Come here." to Bruce with a small smile.

The black haired man hesitated for a moment before convincing himself it was okay. He lied down, keeping visual contact and trying to be ready for some kind of reaction. He also felt Jerome's hand come always so softly run across his cheek.

"Hey, gorgeous, do you come here often?" Jerome asked with his most charming smile.

Bruce tried to understand why he was hearing the cheesiest pick up line in history for a moment, but then he smiled small. Of course he was hearing that because they were practically strangers.

"Yes, I do come here a lot."

They small talked for a while, softly saying things and at the same time saying nothing at all.

"You wanna sleep alone or something?" Jerome asked, tracing the redness he had probably left on his neck.

"No, I don't mind." Bruce answered a little to quick. "I just don't feel like sleeping right now."

Jerome smiled and slowly closed the gap between their lips, lowing his hand to his chest and then Jerome was gone, getting up hurriedly and exclaiming "Movie night!".

Bruce was left confused in the room, a little relieved that both the brothers didn't react bad like part of him was expecting.

He heard a loud steps coming approaching the bedroom and Jeremiah's voice speaking quite loudly "Let go of my hand!" and then, they were in the room, Jerome dragging Jeremiah on one hand and carrying a bag on the other.

The redhead only let his twin's hand to prepare something in a television Bruce's never seen in his bedroom before and he hadn't noticed all day long. Jeremiah sat by his side on the bed and lied his head on his shoulder while Jerome finished putting a movie on.

Bruce didn't really know what he expected them to watch, but he felt Jeremiah getting up and looking at the TV in disbelief

"We're not watching The Princess Diaries again." Jeremiah said almost horrified.

"C'mon, brother, Brucie loves it." Jerome smiled pushing Jeremiah back to bed. "And I brought us candies."

"He does not." Jeremiah protested but didn't get up.

"I never actually watched it." Bruce said trying to be impartial.

Jerome climbed by the other side of the bed, pressing him against Jeremiah just before the movie actually started.

Bruce didn't really pay a lot of attention in the movie. He had one of his hands being held by Jeremiah and he could feel occasionally the green haired man nuzzling his shoulder and sensitive neck. On his other side, he had Jerome almost hypnotized by the movie, laughing in every bit Bruce didn't think as so funny. The ginger spent all the movie lied down with his head in one of Bruce's legs and was the only one to eat the candies he brought. Bruce caught himself sometimes running his hand over red hair.

Bruce never had something like this and never in his life wished something would last more than that. He worried that if he closed his eyes for too long he would wake up alone and sooner or later would have to face the Valeska's ghost into another battle where there was too many victims to be called merely tragic.

He wanted a chance to get to know Jerome and to fall in love again with Jeremiah. 

He squeezed Jeremiah's hand and lied his head a little awkwardly on his shoulders. He felt tears threatening to fall, but refused to let it to.

Bruce didn't stay awake for the rest of the movie. Drifting off, caught in thoughts about the Valeskas.

**Author's Note:**

> I just needed to have something soft for them because they deserve it!! 
> 
> They might be OOC and it also got a lot longer than I expected, so I'm sorry
> 
> If anyone read it 'til the end, I hope you enjoyed it, because I did writing it 💛


End file.
